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soppinthegravy - Posted - 10/20/2017: 20:54:34
Here's one of my oddball questions. People have talked about a "leaning forward" quality. How does one write music to compel musicians to lean forward instead of lying back?
Edited by - soppinthegravy on 10/20/2017 20:55:02
UsuallyPickin - Posted - 10/21/2017: 17:16:25
Well ... you have to write something that causes them to become involved. It has to either surprise them excite them or in some other manner to gain their participation. The concern here is that it's a short step into confusing or obtuse music that is interesting but non involving.
amwildman - Posted - 10/21/2017: 19:05:22
It all boils down to tension and resolution. In Irish tunes, this generally means the tune hangs around the tension notes a lot. For instance, a tune in D will often hover on the F sharp and end the first phrase on A. This makes the tune beg to resolve to D.
Another trick is to end phrases, and especially the whole A and B parts on the first half of measure 8. The pickup notes leading back into measure 1 add a lot of anticipation.
So if I were to start a tune as a rookie composer, I would typically start with a long note that sets the tone and try to get to tension feeling as soon as makes sense. I would never end a phrase or an important note on the tonic except at the end of bar 4 or 8.
Key of D:
D3c BABd|c2ec fcec|B2cd etc. Opens with strong tonic, immediately goes for tension with the 7th and 6th degrees. Ends the first measure using the tonic as a PASSING tone, which creates good tension. Also notice how the first two bars end on a sort of question? Call and response is a great way to create ebb and flow in your music. The third measure, which is the second phrase works great because it revolves around a B minor chord. It adds a different sort of tension. The d is in there, but it's been drafted into the minor army for a bit.
Enough from me for now. I'll let others chime in and probably correct me.
Edited by - amwildman on 10/21/2017 19:06:16
fujers - Posted - 10/21/2017: 22:05:11
Man, you lost me a long time ago. Most fiddlers use the pentatonic scale. Bluegrass, Folk Country. The pents gives you more bang for your buck than normal scales. All this talk about what string does this and that really doesn't have to be so. If you just play... those things will just come in time the more you play. Now playing pents isn't that hard it actually easier than regular scales. All bluegrass fiddlers use them..celtic, folks and country all use them. The kinda stuff we play isn't hard..but does take some knowledge and not to much of that. Jerry
soppinthegravy - Posted - 10/21/2017: 23:08:36
How about this arangement of Sally Goodin?
quote:
Originally posted by UsuallyPickin
Well ... you have to write something that causes them to become involved. It has to either surprise them excite them or in some other manner to gain their participation. The concern here is that it's a short step into confusing or obtuse music that is interesting but non involving.
